London, Helen Goh & 365's Roasted Squash Salad
The clouds hung low over London - as usual - yet as soon as our plane plopped through the thick layer of foggy mist, millions of sparkling lights danced underneath us and made me giggle like a child. There's a picturesque, an almost innocent cuteness about this city that reminds me of a fairy tale. Colorful doors in sturdy brick houses, smoking chimneys and neatly cut boxwoods. If I had painted my dream city as a child, it would have been London.
So I was back, just for a few days, with a new cookbook in my bag and the unsettled excitement of a nervous author. London was the third stop on my 365 book tour and I asked a very special woman if she'd join me to talk about my new book on the big day, a woman whose work I have admired for years and whose creations I enjoy every time I'm in town: Helen Goh, co-author of Sweet, also responsible for some of the best sweet creations piled up at the Ottolenghi temples' temptingly luscious displays. When Helen said "Yes," I felt like a groupie who got handed a backstage pass. The first thing she said when we met before the guests arrived was "lets have a glass of wine and sit down." She saw that I was nervous. I looked into her eyes and immediately felt calm. And contrary to my usual habit of not having a single drop before a talk, I had a glass of Meridiana Wine Estate's dark red Melqart. It neither harmed nor increased my chattiness but it reminded me of the fact that all this is fun. To meet people all over the world and talk about food is one of the greatest gifts that my cookbooks - and this blog - have given me. (You can watch some snippets from our conversation here on my Instagram Stories.)
We had a fantastic evening, chatting, discussing, and laughing, enjoying more of Meridiana's wines and food from the book; bruschetta, quiche, and brownies, and the Roasted Squash, Shallot, and Radicchio Salad with Stilton - recipe no. 289 in 365 - a beautifully vibrant recipe that I share with you below. This salad is a spectacular, and easy to prepare starter during the festive season, but also a wonderfully light lunch or dinner when December's feasting becomes a little too excessive.
When I wrote about my Berlin book launch, I mentioned that this tour is only possible because I have amazing friends at my side. People who I've been working with for years and who've been solid rocks in their support for my adventures. The night I arrived in London, I jumped into a taxi that took me straight to my favorite hotel in town. We celebrated the launch of 365 at the magical Corinthia London, and to come back to the fairy tale, I was also lucky to sleep there and this definitely made me feel like a princess. Laying in the coziest cloudy bed, framed by more puffy pillows than one really needs (but it feels so good), and room service delivering the best fish and chips at midnight. I don't think life could possibly get any better than this. But then breakfast comes, and the spa, and then lunch, and dinner - and the fairy tale continues. It's a grown up princess dream come true. Thank you.
Roasted Squash, Shallot, and Radicchio Salad with Stilton
from ‘365 – A Year of Everyday Cooking & Baking’ (Prestel, 2019)
Serves 2 to 4
For the salad
¾ pound (340 g) seeded squash, preferably peeled butternut or Hokkaido with skin, cut into 1-inch (2.5cm) wedges
8 shallots, unpeeled, cut in half lengthwise
1/3 cup (75 ml) olive oil
Flaky sea salt
Finely ground pepper
5 ounces (140 g)radicchio, soft leaves only, torn into pieces
1 large, firm pear, cored and cut into thin wedges
2 ounces (60 g)Stilton, crumbled
1 tbsp fresh thyme leaves
For the dressing
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp white balsamicvinegar
1 tsp honey
Fine sea salt
Finely ground pepper
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
For the salad, spread the squash on one side of a large baking dish andthe shallots on the other side. Drizzle with the olive oil and toss tocombine, keeping the squash and shallots separate. Season generously with flakysea salt and pepper and roast for 15 minutes. Flip the squash and shallots overand continue roasting for 10 to 15 or until golden and tender. Transfer thesquash to a plate. Let the shallots cool for a few minutes then peel and addto the squash.
For the dressing, whisk together the olive oil, both vinegars, and thehoney and season to taste with fine sea salt and pepper.
Divide the radicchio, pear, squash, and shallots among plates, arrangingthem in overlapping layers. Sprinkle with the Stilton and thyme, drizzle withthe dressing, and serve immediately.
Berlin & 365's Autumn Quiche with Squash, Taleggio & Sage
My editor at Prestel in New York asked me one day where I'd like to launch my new book. Berlin, I said, and Malta, of course, and London, and NYC, and the West coast this time, LA and San Francisco. It's nice to dream and imagine all these places on both sides of the Atlantic, to think of all the people I'd meet and who'd celebrate 365 together with me. I'm good at dreaming but I'm bad at not following a dream. It makes me restless, once my mind is set on something it doesn't want to stop until it gets there. Sometimes my dreams don't work out, sometimes they do - even though everybody around me has given up hope. And sometimes they happen to be even better than I hoped they'd be.
There are many ways to launch a book, but I wanted a feast - in six cities. There are many reasons why a dream works out, luck (always), persistence (tiring for everyone around), thoughtful planning (I studied architecture, I'm good at that), and help and support from others (and I got a lot of that). In the next couple months I'll share some impressions of the six 365 book launch events here on the blog, I'll write about the places and what I love so much about them, and about the people who made all this possible. And to give you a little taste of this book tour, I'll always share one of the recipes that we enjoyed at the events. So I'll start with Berlin, my home, the place where my adventurous journey began, and with the recipe for the Squash and Taleggio Quiche with Crispy Sage (you can find it in the book, recipe no. 287, and below). This quiche became the cover of 365 and quickly gained fans and fame all around the globe.
On the morning of September 23rd I started to feel nervous, it was the publication day of the German 365 and the day on which I'd step out of my comfort zone and talk about the book that I'd been working on for so many days and nights. It feels good when a book is out, you can't change anything anymore and at one point you even stop dreaming about gram-to-cup conversions but it's also the time when people start seeing what you've created, when it's not just you and the book anymore. It's scary.
So I kept myself busy during the day (the best strategy to calm my antsy mind), I went to the hair dresser (thank you Jay for dealing with my anxious self) and then drove straight to the Hotel de Rome, a former bank turned into the hotel of your dreams where 365 would soon see the most marvelous of celebrations. Türkan Arikan, the hotel's Director of Communications and the best event partner an author could ask for, had reserved the stunning roof terrace for our launch - my favourite spot for a summery sundowner - but Berlin's weather was set on drizzle, wind, and grey, no blue skies and golden sunset. We took over Hotel de Rome's imposing Opera Court with our 100 guests instead, nibbled on hearty tastings from 365 prepared by the diligent kitchen crew, and on the bittersweet recipe no. 70 from 365, Tangerine Jam Chocolate Brownies baked by Fine Bagels' fabulous Laurel Kratochvila. A fair feast needs wine and we happily filled our glasses with the wonderful reds, whites, and rosé from Meridiana Wine Estate in Malta (thank you Karl Chetcuti for making Maltese wine that fills my heart and every room on the book tour with so much joy). Florian Domberger baked and shared Berlin's best bread with us, his crunchy, spongy Beutebrot. And I had a very honest, intimate talk about the book with my friend Cynthia Barcomi. This woman manages to fit more into one life than anyone else and her laugh is so charming and infectious that you totally forget that you're nervous and that you're talking about something that existed, not too long ago, only in your head before it became a book. Could I ask for more? No, it was a feast.
Thank YOU so much for all the love and support that you've already shown for 365! If you have a few minutes and you're in the mood, it would be great if you could write a review for the book on Amazon (here are the links for the US, UK, Germany).
You can see all the pictures of the Berlin book launch event here on Facebook. And if you cook or bake recipes from the book and share pictures on Instagram, you can add #365TheCookbook so that they show up in the book's collection. If you feel like diving into the love that this book received so far, you can read about it here.
Squash and Taleggio Quiche with Crispy Sage
from '365 - A Year of Everyday Cooking & Baking' (Prestel, 2019)
Serves 4 to 8
For the filling
1 1/3 pounds (600 g) seeded squash, preferably peeled butternut or Hokkaido with skin, cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm) wedges
1 tbsp olive oil
Flaky sea salt
Finely ground pepper
3 large eggs
3/4 cup (175 g) sour cream (or crème fraîche)
1/2 cup (120 ml) heavy cream
1 tsp fine sea salt
Nutmeg, preferably freshly grated
5 ounces (140 g) mild, sweet cheese that melts well, such as Taleggio, fontina, or Robiola, diced
3 tbsp (45 g) unsalted butter
50 large fresh sage leaves
For the pastry
2 cups (260 g) all-purpose flour
1 tsp fine sea salt
1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp (130 g) unsalted butter, cold
1 large egg
Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C).
For the filling, spread the squash in a large baking dish, drizzle withthe olive oil, and toss to combine. Season to taste with flaky sea salt andpepper and roast for 15 minutes then flip the squash and continue roasting for10 to 15 minutes or until golden and tender; set aside.
For the pastry, combine the flour and fine sea salt in the bowl of astand mixer fitted with the dough hook attachment. Add the butter and use aknife to cut it into the flour until there are just small pieces left. Quicklyrub the butter into the flour with your fingers until combined. Add the egg andmix with the hook until crumbly. Form the dough into a thick disc, wrap it inplastic wrap, and freeze for 10 minutes.
On a work surface, place the dough between 2 sheets of plastic wrap anduse a rolling pin to roll out into a disc, large enough to line the bottom andsides of a 12-inch (30 cm) quiche dish. Fit the dough into the quiche dish,pushing it into the dish, especially along the edges. Let the dough hang overthe rim a little or trim with a knife. Use a fork to prick the dough all over.Bake for 15 minutes or until golden. If the dough bubbles up, push it down witha fork. Take the quiche dish out of the oven and reduce the heat to 350°F (180°C).
In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sour cream, heavy cream, andfine sea salt and season to taste with pepper and a generous amount of nutmeg.
Arrange the squash in a circle on top of the pre-baked pastry andsprinkle with the cheese. Pour the egg mixture over the squash and bake for 45to 55 minutes or until golden brown and firm. Take the quiche out of the ovenand let it sit at least 10 minutes.
In a large saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat, add thesage, and cook, stirring gently, for 20 to 30 seconds or until golden, green,and crispy—mind that the leaves don’t burn. Spread the sage on top of thequiche, sprinkle with a little pepper, and serve warm or cold.
365 - The book is out!
A couple months ago I was in Malta and I received a message: THE book had arrived. I should pick up the first printed copy of 365 at the airport. I screamed. It was a busy Wednesday, the peak of Mediterranean summer, and it was boiling hot. Begging my boyfriend to drop everything and drive me immediately, we rushed outside to the car. In 14 years I successfully managed to avoid driving on my beloved Mediterranean archipelago. There are many things I love doing in Malta, driving isn't one of them.
My hands were shaking and I couldn't think. I worked on those pages for 18 months, day and night. They made me laugh, they made me cry. I cooked and baked 365 recipes, I bought so many vegetables, fruits, filled our fridge with meat and seafood, until I ran out of storage space. There was food everywhere in our flat in Berlin, raw and cooked. In the kitchen, in the hall, in the living room, bedroom, and on the balcony. Constantly spread out on our long wooden table were plates and bowls filled with colorful salads, fragrant quiches and cakes, pasta dishes, hearty roasts and wintery braised beef, Mediterranean fish and seafood creations, soups and sandwiches. We had friends over every day to keep the constant flow of food under control. It was a feast - which feels strange to say when one works on a cookbook - but it did feel like a true celebration of food, every day. Although I prepared and shot eight dishes a day and went through my recipes, notes, and photos often until midnight, I had the best time of my life. I felt exhausted but happy.
Working on a book is tricky. You have your vision, your ideas, how it will look and feel when you hold it in your hands, but unless you have the physical hard copy in front of you for the first time, it's all guesswork. And that's scary. Sitting in the car, waiting and finally getting to the shipping depot, made me feel both excited and anxious. Would I like it? Would it be what I had in mind when I decided to turn a year of cooking and baking into a book? Standing in a dusty warehouse without windows in the middle of Malta, I gently yet forcefully peeled 365 out of its cardboard package. It was too dark, I couldn't see it properly. So I ran outside into the blistering hot sun and as soon as the bright Mediterranean midday light hit the cover, it made the shades of blue and orange shine even more. I laughed. I quickly leaved through every page, counting the recipes from 1 to 365 making sure that no page got lost. It was all there. 365 is complete. Breathe.
Today, on the 8th October, the book is out in English (365 - A Year of Everyday Cooking & Baking) and in German (365 - Jeden Tag einfach kochen & backen) all over the world. And it's already on The New York Times 'The 13 Best Cookbooks of Fall 2019' list (click here for the list). You can either grab a copy of the book at your favorite bookstore or order online (click here for some of the links).
My book tour already started and I'm soon going to share the pictures here and on social media from my book launch events in Berlin, Malta, and London but if you happen to live in New York, you can still join me today (8th October) at Rizzoli Bookstore Broadway where I'll be holding a talk with Susan Spungen (and there will be wine from Meridiana Wine Estate!). On the 16th October, I'll be at Now Serving in Los Angeles (in conversation with Alana Kysar) and on the 17th October in San Francisco at Omnivore Books (in conversation with David Kurtz/ Homage). These are all free events, so please come and join us:
October 8th, 7-8pm | NEW YORK CITY | Rizzoli Bookstore
– In conversation with Susan Spungen
October 16th, 7pm| LOS ANGELES | Now Serving
– In conversation with Alana Kysar (Aloha Kitchen)
October 17th, 6:30-7:30pm | SAN FRANCISCO | Omnivore Books
– In conversation with chef David Kurtz (Homage)
I want to thank you, my loyal readers of this blog, for following these pages since I started Eat In My Kitchen in November 2013. For your constant support, your trust in my recipes, and above all, for your love for home-cooked food. Without you there wouldn't have been my first book, Eat In My Kitchen, that won the 2017 James Beard General Cookbook of the Year Award, and there also wouldn't be 365. We share a great passion and a belief, and that's that no food in the world tastes as good as the food that we prepare in our own kitchens. I hope that this never changes and that the dialogue stays as fruitful and delicious as ever. Enjoy!
365 is dedicated to a woman who isn't here anymore. A woman who deeply touched and inspired me with her love for food and for the truth. The Maltese journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia will always be in my heart and her unforgettable strength keeps reminding me that there's always something worth fighting for.
A book isn't born out of one mind, it's created and shaped by the hands and minds of many. My deepest thanks go to these wonderful people who shared their creativity, patience, criticism, and persistence with me:
My editor Holly La Due, everybody at Prestel in New York, London, and Munich, Lauren Salkeld, Tanja Kapahnke, Sven Lindhost-Emme, Jen Endom, Monica Parcell, Djan Sauerborn, Marlon Bertzbach, Seb Tanti Burlò, Iggy Fenech, and my man, Jamie, for being there 365 days and nights for so many years. Thank you, all my family and friends, for being my inspiration and support - and for your unstoppable appetite!
Happy cooking & baking!
Meike xxx